Sharapova Reveals Her Views on Her Career at Bank of West Classic

Currently ranked number five in the world, Maria Sharapova sat down at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic to talk about how her career has turned out, what difficulties she faced during her life, and what she thinks of the events that happen in between tournaments.

At age four, her father Yuri gave her a tennis racquet and she doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t playing tennis. She has never wanted to leave the sport behind once she stepped into adulthood and she never hated the sport ever since she started playing.

“There is no reason to and although you have difficult moments, it’s a pretty good gig and we are fortunate to do what we do,” Sharapova said at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic, where she is the second seed. “You have your moments of frustrations growing up when your friends can catch the 10 p.m. movie and you have to catch the 6-7 p.m. movie even though you want to go with them, but you can’t because you have to wake up and practice. But it’s worth it when you lift the trophies and receive the texts and emails and well wishes.”

“Even though I’m constantly thinking of wanting to win and improving, when I’m at home I’m really happy and settled into my life,” she said. “I don’t feel like I need to go to a red carpet event for people to see me and notice me and I don’t feel my career is in the hands of someone who can put me on the cover of a magazine. I think those are really big worries that [other] people have and it’s tough to live like that. I’m fortunate my career is driven from something I created with my own hands, whether I win or lose. That’s what keeps me sane.”

As the second seeded player at Stanford, Maria has an opportunity to meet Serena Williams in the quarters. But she should also watch out for defending champ and top seeded Victoria Azarenka who wants to give herself a title as her birthday gift this Sunday. The only way for Maria to stop her is beat her in the final, if they do meet.